Fuel Subsidy Removal to Save N8tn Annually, Urges Targeted Spending for Nigerian Welfare

The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has said the Federal Government will be saving N8tn annually from the fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification policies.

Oyedele spoke during a panel session at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2024 Economic Outlook and Budget Analysis.

He, therefore, said it was critical for the government to spend the amount saved from the two policies to ameliorate the suffering of the average Nigerian.

He said, “The Nigerian people made sacrifices as a result of the fuel subsidy removal of the government; that is N4tn savings a year. We did naira floatation. It is not perfect. We are also saving another N4tn. So we are having about roughly N8tn transferred from the private pockets of the people to the government.
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“So, what we are saying to the government is — can we be intentional in spending this N8tn to make sure that it impacts the people most positively? Starting with the multidimensional poverty. why is it that more than 133 million people in Nigeria are living in multidimensional poverty? So these are the conversations we are having now. We want to build a platform where we can track how these monies are being spent.”

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He added, “In the committee, we tried to look at the most pressing issues we face as a country — inflation, forex instability, lack of investments. One of our recommendations is for the government to suspend some taxes. We call them nuisance taxes because they frustrate people, and we can’t even see the money in government treasury.”

According to Oyedele, there is an urgent need to create digital opportunities for the teeming youthful population because Nigeria has enough capacity to generate $20bn annually from the technology sector.